Beloved: Be serious and sober-minded so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another A without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
REFLECTION
A sixteen year-old son of a senator and deacon in Britain was kidnapped and brought to Ireland. His name was Patrick. There Partick was enslaved by a clan.
Ireland was a pagan country. There were clans governing sections of the country. Later, they united into a kingdom. The clans believed in polytheism, animism. The druids, or priests, practiced demonic spells, curses, incantations, and dark magic, which also influenced the people's beliefs.
During the time that Patrick was enslaved, he was a swineherder. He had a lot of time to reflect on his life and realize that he did not know God. In his loneliness, he began to think of God. He prayed and talked to God. He felt a fire inside of himself. He was inspired by a voice to escape. He ran 200 miles down to the coast, where God led him to a ship. He finally returned home to his parents.
Patrick continued to pray and study in Britiain. He became interested in Catholicism. He dreamed that he was being called back to Ireland. He also felt a call to become a missionary. Soon, he became a Catholic priest and continued his studies in France, where he was ordained a Bishop.
It was then that Patrick returned to Ireland with his sights set on converting the Irish people to Christ. He boldly witnessed, and through miraculous signs and his unwavering faith, he was able to convert one of the kings. And so he continued to work on the kings and the chiefs of villages, because after the king converted, then the people were open to his preaching the Gospel. Soon after they, too, would convert. Throughout his missionary work, he suffered hardships from those who opposed him, mostly from the druid spiritual leaders. Evenso, he baptised and confirmed thousands, built churches, monasteries, ordained local young men to the priesthood, and converted Ireland from paganism to Catholicism.
The fire that St. Patrick preached from the Gospels was imparted to the converts of Ireland; and ignited by St. Patrick's fire they went out to preach the Gospel to the world.
Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Let us pray to St. Patrick for the courage and humility to listen and follow God's Will.
Comments